Friday, March 14, 2014

March 14 – On this day in Montana History in 1935 speeders
and bad drivers across Montana were greeted with the news that there was kind
of a new sheriff in town. Gov. Frank Cooney in an emergency act created the
Montana Highway Patrol. It was deemed an emergency because of a big rise in
Depression-era crime and greatly increased traffic on Montana’s improving road
network. There was some opposition
primarily from Butte labor unions. The act specifically banned the new patrol
from any involvement in labor disputes, strikes or boycotts.